This invention relates to a shuttlecar equaliser for use on shuttlecars as used in mining, and particularly coal mining, operations.
In coal mining operations where shuttlecars are obliged to traverse rough and uneven terrain, equalisers are used to balance the wheel loads and to maintain the wheels of different wheelsets in contact with the ground while permitting the different wheelsets to rock relative to one another about a fore and aft axis. In practice, an equaliser spans transversely and carries a wheel end unit at each end. At its centre, the equaliser is mounted pivotally to the chassis of the vehicle about a horizontal, fore and aft axis, and it is this pivotal connection which permits relative rocking between different wheelsets on the shuttlecar.
In the conventional design of shuttlecar equaliser, the wheel end units of each wheelset are mounted outboard of the respective ends of the equaliser bar. This is not an optimum design because, in a typical shuttlecar, limited clearance only is left behind the wheel end unit for the equalizer attachment. Added to this, the wheel end units are usually mounted on so-called "ears" which are manufactured as separate castings that are then welded to the equaliser bar proper. This mode of construction is prone to failure at the weld sites.